Adoption and intensity of use of personal protective equipment by agricultural pesticide handlers: Empirical evidence from Peruvian agriculture

Abstract

Pesticide use poses risks to human health that could be mitigated by the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), among other things. The aim of this study is to analyze the adoption and adoption intensity among a sample of nearly 12,000 crop farmers in Peru who grow a wide range of crops. This study further aims at identifying the factors that condition PPE use and intensity of use, with special attention paid to crop specialization. To achieve this objective, an econometric hurdle model that separates the decision on whether to adopt PPE from the decision on how many PPEs to employ was used. Results show that about a third of the sample farmers did not use any PPE when applying pesticides. For those farmers already using PPE, average PPE use intensity was relatively low at two PPEs, with boots being the most used PPE, followed by masks and gloves. The decision to adopt PPEs was strongly and positively influenced by farmers' level of education, access to credit, and training on pesticide use. The same factors were also found to be positively associated with PPE use intensity, which was further shown to be driven by cooperative membership. Crop specialization is shown to be an important determinant of both PPE adoption and adoption intensity. Interventions to promote PPE use should mainly target farms with a higher degree of specialization in cereal production, as these farms were less likely to use and intensify PPE adoption than farms specializing in other crops. Other relevant pathways to increasing PPE use include improving farmers’ educational status, communicating information on pesticide use, alleviating credit constraints, and strengthening farmer organizations.